Juan Sorazábal

Churchín

(1902 - 4 June 1944, Paraguay)

Juan Ignacio Sorazábal was born in Paraguay into a family of Basque immigrants. He was an illustrator and political cartoonist, who has also worked in Argentina for several years. Just like Andrés Guevara, he was part of the so-called "Generation of 1923", that contributed to magazines like Rojo y Azul, Cri-krí, Tipos y Tipetes and Crónica. He was director and illustrator for the cultural magazine Juventud, and he was also present in papers like El Diario and the anarchistic La Palabra. Sorazábal, whose work was influenced by Art Deco and expressionism, sometimes signed his work Churchín.

Sorazábal headed for Argentina in 1931, where he joined the artist's team of the magazine Crítica. It was for his magazine that he created his comic strip 'Mechin y Pelusita'. He was also present in the Argentine magazines Caras y Caretas and ¡Aquí Está!. He was specialized in drawing crowded scenes.